Deforestation, Desertification, and Vital Materiality

In this chapter, I analyze texts from and about South and Southeast Asia themed around deforestation, desertification, and the conceptualization of matter. I discuss their prevalent ecoambivalence, where the idea of forests as resource coexists with a cognition of their autonomy and agency. I begin my analysis with the two Hindu epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. Then, I look at the Bengal Renaissance movement and the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, and Mahasweta Devi. I then explore colonial texts that engage with ideas of agency in nonhuman nature, countering mainstream European ideologies and demonstrating contradictory positions that reveal that even imperialists were not immune to ecoambivalence. Finally, I examine contemporary texts from Southeast Asia and evaluate ways in which Asian writers respond to the threat and reality of deforestation and desertification.